stevenkesslar

GOP senators distance themselves from Trump's 'poisoning' immigration comments It's reminiscent of Trump's presidency, when Republicans would commonly say they hadn't seen Trump's comments or only modestly push back on them. I have to admit this one really surprises me. I'm not surprised about Trump spreading lies, division, and hate. That's his thing. I'm surprised at Republican Senators like Shelley Moore Capito, Roger Wicker, and Thom Tillis. I was not aware that they were part of the MSNBC watching, NYTimes reading, Volvo driving, Chablis sipping, out-of-touch elitist class who clutch their pearls over comments like that which most Americans agree with. How did I miss that? Anyhoo, it's started. Trump is reminding Americans why they fired him. And why they elected Democrats to the Senate.

I am curious on this one. I don't speak Russian. And you're a sweetheart. So help me out, @Moses. I've read a lot about how Vlad has a policy to pay Russian families to turn their husbands and sons into fertilizer for cows to shit on. Basically, they get pushed into the army, they go to the front, they die, they become grass for cows to shit on. The families of the dead guy/fertilizer gets paid to tolerate Vlad's butchering of Russians and Ukrainians. That is how Vlad's War/Sadism Economy works. Something like this: Is this part of the budget on social projects? Because unlike health care or education, it is getting a significant increase. Although, given how much money is going into direct butchering - defense and security forces - even a 19 % increase means it gets a smaller percentage of Vlad's overall War/Sadism Economy budget. This is what the Russian translation says. So that is good news for Russian seniors, and the Russian working class. At least in the short run. It seems to me to reflect how desperately Vlad wants to win. He's paying off seniors and workers to tolerate his War/Butchering/Sadism Economy. Seriously. Is that what Trump and Republicans are for? More money for Russian workers, so they tolerate Russian soldiers killing Ukrainian children, while Republicans cut taxes again for the richest Americans? And maybe also more tax cuts for the wildly profitable corporations that helped spike prices for their products because they could? I want that debate! How about we instead raise taxes on the rich, mostly to help Americans, but also to pay for the small percentage of the US budget it takes to help Ukraine? Bottom line that fact-oriented Republicans and Democrats understand. Vlad has to spend a massive and unsustainable share of his budget to slaughter Ukrainians and attack democracy. Americans have to spend a very small share of our budget to defend Ukrainians and democracy. Vlad's budget is not sustainable, and it is based on fantasy. It makes up a fantasy oil price, and fantasy GDP growth, and a fantasy exchange rate. What it also confirms is that Putin is desperate, and playing against time. He doesn't really have the money to fund his War/Sadism/Butchering Economy for the long term. The second biggest growth category in Vlad's butchering budget is a 50 % increase in public debt. The Americans and Chinese, wisely, would rather build out electric cars or AI. As opposed to turning themselves and their neighbors into fertilizer. So Vlad can't just keep blowing up budgets - and budget deficits. On blogs like this, I know I am a man of many words. And many facts. But in 2024, the split screen ad I want is mostly images, not words. I want Trump praising Putin for attacking US political and legal institutions. And attacking democracy. And I want Putin boldly calling for House Republicans to go to their kitchen, pull out a knife, and castrate themselves. And then put their testicles in a jar and give them to Vlad, to proudly display to the Russian people. Because that is what Vlad is counting on Republicans to do. Castrate themselves, and support or at least tolerate his attacks on Ukraine, the global economy, the international order, democracy, US elections, and US legal and political institutions. Sorry, but how does this help Trump and Republicans win? I want Trump talking about this 24/7!

You're like Putin's news, which dominates Russia. You edited what I said to ignore the intentional killing of children and the rape of women. You really don't like facts, do you? So you are saying the problem is the US and EU are helping Ukraine defend themselves from a war Putin started that primarily focuses on killing Ukrainians? You really are Russian, aren't you? That's doesn't need a long response. It's just stupid, and sick. And, again, the premise of your argument - that somehow Boris Johnson runs Ukraine - illustrates your contempt for facts and truth. For same strange reason, Ukrainians just don't want to be War Economy Vlad's powerless pigs for slaughter. In New Poll, 89% of Ukrainians Reject Ceding Land to Reach Peace With Russia Ukrainians back Zelensky’s position that peace talks can’t grant Russia land it has seized, WSJ-NORC poll finds

Quell surprise! The Trump lover who is fact free and the Putin lover who is fact free are teaming up on me!!! Why am I not shocked? My sources do not lie, dear. In fact, your sources confirm my point: From the English translation of a Russian article using your chart: The President of the Russian Federation signed the law on the federal budget for 2024: what you need to know What will the record 36.7 trillion rubles be spent on and what will the deficit be? Putin is flooding money into a War/Sadism/Butchering Economy that focuses on the areas that kill Ukrainian soldiers. The security forces he wants to plow lots more money into are the very same ones who rape Ukrainian women and intentionally kill Ukrainian children, or cart them off to Russia. It's a budget dedicated to sadism and butchering. It is who Vlad is. It is what Vlad does. To his credit, he puts his money where his murder is. I stand by my point. As more and more money is spent on butchering Ukrainian soldiers, women and children, two things will definitely happen. One, Ukrainians will deepen their resolve to never give up. (See, Afghanistan, USSR invasion. See Iraq, US invasion.) So it guarantees hundreds of thousands more dead Russians. Which is not something Russians like. Two, it guarantees less money for everything else in Putin's already weak economy. Health services and education both suffer in either relative or absolute terms. Or both, eventually, as Putin bleeds out both Ukraine and Russia like they are both his powerless pigs for slaughter. Sorry. There is no way Ukrainians are going to be pigs for slaughter. Their resolve to kill every Russian they can will only deepen. It has already. The polls are clear that Ukrainians are less open to a peace agreement than a year ago. Because the only thing they trust Putin to do is sit back and get rich as their women are raped and their children are slaughtered. You think Xi Whiz wants World War 3? Come on! Putin is not only a sadist. He is a stupid one. Whatever the US does or does not do, and whatever the EU does or does not do, we know for sure Xi Whiz does not want World War 3. Or a global depression caused by China. Especially after what COVID did to global public opinion about China. So despite all his nice language about human rights, Xi is apparently fine with Vlad murdering a certain number of Ukrainian kids to keep the US and EU distracted. But the EU is already saying, "Xi, get the fuck out. We don't like doing business with you." That's not what Xi had in mind when he became Vlad's bosom buddy. Because the economy of Germany, let alone the whole EU, makes Russia a pathetic weak economy in comparison. So Putin is like Xi's little pit bull on a leash. And if things go bad for Putin, which they inevitably will., that's when Putin becomes Xi's pig on a leash. And we all know what happens with pigs when they are no longer useful. Again, if you don't believe me look at the entire history of invasions like this in this century. It never works. And it ain't gonna work in Ukraine. Here's another way to think about it. It's pretty clear that The US is leading the technological race in AI. It's pretty clear that China is leading the technological race in electric cars. What is Russia leading the race in? Building weapons to kill Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian women, Ukrainian children, and democracy. I am glad Trump supporters and Putin supporters are standing together for this cruel and unpopular agenda. It shows what you are really for.

Yes I did provide evidence. By the way, glad that you want to engage in facts now. As far as the evidence, which I will provide again, SPLC documented that the policy most Americans despise, separating children from parents, was started by Trump in 2017. Once we have a real immigration debate, and Old Joe says, "I don't want to separate kids from their parents," 2 in 3 Americans will agree with him. Trump's policy was cruel. Why? Because Trump is a cruel liar. Just ask Rudy Ghouliani. Or the cops his "hostages" beat the shit out of on January 6th. Or the Ukrainian soldiers, women, and children Trump will leave to Putin's bloodbaths, if he is elected again. The overwhelming majority of Americans don't support Trump's cruel policies. The article you cited, @EmmetK, was about the ACLU going after Obama for "family detention." According to FAIR, a conservative group that wants to reduce immigration, "family detention" (as opposed to "catch and release" is the policy a plurality of Americans support. Polls Show Voters Support Family Detention Over Catch-and-Release If you read the whole article (which you won't, since you are on record as being against long factual arguments) it is more nuanced than FAIR's headline suggests. But FAIR is basically saying, factually, that something like a majority of Americans supported Obama/Biden's "family detention" policy. Meanwhile, 2 in 3 Americans opposed Trump's policy of separating kids from their parents. These are the actual policies that are being debated. I can't find a poll on "kids in cages." Generally, in context, "kids in cages" usually was used to refer specifically to Trump's cruel and deeply unpopular policy of separating kids from their parents. The deal Obama/Biden thought they had with Republicans is that if they tightened up the border, Republicans would support comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform. In fact, the Senate enacted such a bipartisan compromise bill in 2013, with 2 in 3 Senators from both parties supporting the compromise. Why did it not become law? The right wing MAGA Freedom Caucus opposed it in the House. Of course they can't tolerate Barack Obama, or Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris. They can't even stand Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy, to his credit, got a lot of younger Latina and Black conservatives elected to the House. But the radical right wing MAGA crowd is now the last best hope of the outnumbered radical White conservative men clinging to power, and pushing Trump's lies and cruel policies.

Yet again, we agree. In your mind, facts prove nothing. Since you've stopped reading, I'll simply cite the facts that you don't want to know. What we don't know for a fact is what is actually being negotiated in the US Senate right now. And how far Biden and Harris (she's the immigration czar) will go to make a deal with Republicans to get aid to Ukraine and Israel. As well as address the "broken border" problem that most Americans agree on. If I believe what I read, groups like the ACLU and SPLC are concerned that Republicans will push for things like a return to Trump's child separation policies, which a vast majority of Democrats and Independents oppose. So we'll have to see whether any deal can be struck, and what it includes. My guess is that if Republicans really want a poison pill to kill compromise, throwing in a cruel provision that Trump came up with that they know only older Republicans support would be one way to do it.

Again, we agree. Trump rarely tells the truth. He usually lies. I never said that Trump said, factually, he will throw kids in cages. I said that he did throw kids in cages. Which, factually, most Americans do not support. Which, factually, contributed to him being a big sorry old fat loser in 2020. Which, factually, led his "hostages" to go beat the shit out of cops on Jan. 6th to show how much they love police, and democracy. CBS News poll: Two-thirds of Americans say separating children, parents at border unacceptable I'll always make sure to put the facts after the first paragraph so they never have to disturb you. Seems like these facts do actually disturb the majority of Americans, though.

That's progress. 😉 But believe me, I'm not surprised. Either that you don't like facts. Or that you are proud of the fact that you don't like facts. I kind of figured that out a long time ago, when that whole "I won the election thing" happened. And also when I figured out that Trump seems more worried about the "hostages" that attacked the Capitol after he rallied them on than he is about the actual hostages in Israel. Thankfully, you did not read my second and third paragraphs, in your own words. So you won't feel insulted. And you learned no facts that challenge your beliefs. Congratulations!

We agree. So do I. I'll repeat what I said above, citing Trump fan boy Ben Shapiro. Trump wins when the camera is on Biden and everyone is talking about the "I" words: inflation, immigration, impeachment, Israel, idiot. Then Trump opens his mouth and says, "Hey. I got a great idea. Let's sound like Nazis, and throw kids in cages." True, the elite clutch their pearls. But maybe at best 1 in 3 Americans actually like the idea of sounding like Nazis and throwing kids in cages. Just because America is unhappy with Biden doesn't mean they like Trump. Shapiro worries that Trump will remind America that Trump lies and Trump loses. He has a point. I think Kamala Harris nailed it in this recent interview. She acknowledged that Republicans see immigration as perhaps their best issue in 2024. Especially with inflation getting back to the low range the Fed wants it in. For most of 2023 wages are rising faster than inflation. Trump is of course confirming that Harris is right. She's also saying that it's sad that Republicans can and maybe will hold immigration, Israel, and Ukraine all hostage to their political tactics. I think that may actually help Biden. Because even more than in 2020, it does feel the soul of America is on the line. Are we actually going to defend democracy, or let Putin slaughter hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians? Are we actually going to defend ourselves? Or say, "NATO? Never mind!" The thing that will help the most, I think, is a split screen of Trump and Putin. On the left, I want Trump quoting Putin saying that the Jan. 6 indictments, which a majority of Americans support, make US democracy looks weak. Thanks Vlad. You're sure one to judge. On the right I want Putin himself saying Americans are weak - especially Republicans. And unlike Vlad and Russian men, American men - especially Republicans - don't even have the balls to fight and defend themselves. Even when it means all the pussies have to do is spend money creating well paying jobs in the US defense industry. Putin's argument is simple: Americans are weak, and stupid. Thanks Vlad. Back at ya. . Since I chose that video, I have to repeat my point to @Moses. Russia is defunding schools and education to plow as much money as their weak economy has into Vlad's Big War Economy To Kill Hundreds Of Thousands Of Ukrainians. In the short term, it is definitely creating some economic activity. In the long run, it condemns Russia to further stagnation. But right now I'm worried about 2024. I want the split screen, with Vlad absolutely in lock step with Trump to undercut Ukraine, US political and legal institutions, and democracy. I think that will help call the question in 2024.

Well, my guess is everybody will run to the ballot box in 2024. That's one good thing. Democracy may be particularly nasty right now. But so far it is alive and well. I obviously agree with you more than I disagree on immigration. Democrats are losing the debate. And badly. The only caveat I would add is that many of the people arguing for tighter immigration control are Democratic Mayors. And on inflation, I also mostly agree. Right or wrong, it's the inflation, stupid. That's clearly hurting Biden more than anything else. And, no, most people really don't give a shit that inflation spiked higher in most other nations, and dropped quicker in the United States. Again, it's the inflation, stupid. That said, I think Republicans would be silly to count their indictments before they are hatched. 🤔 I'm all for remembering the good old days, when inflation and unemployment was low. But we should also remind ourselves that in Nov. 2020 when voters fired Trump (yes, really, they did - which is another thing that will hurt Trump as the trials get started) the misery index (CPI + unemployment) was 7.87. As Reagan famously proved, the higher the number, the worse for the incumbent. Trump proved it, too. The misery index was 6.38 when Trump won the election (yes, he really did win that one) in Nov. 2016. Maybe the fact that Trump created MORE misery, not less, is why voters fired him. Now, as of Nov. 2023, the misery index is 6.83. In other words, Trump can argue he wants to bring inflation and unemployment back to how low they were before Biden was elected. That's a great argument is we are writing fiction. But not if we are using math. Biden actually is bringing inflation and unemployment back to how low they were before Trump was elected. Don't count on Trump winning that debate. That said, the even more emotional argument is that Biden has let crime run rampant. People are being murdered everywhere, like never before in history. For example, every chart I could find shows beyond a doubt that the murder rate spiked and peaked in 2020 ........ WHEN DONALD TRUMP WAS PRESIDENT. Funny how a massive increase in gun purchases coincided with a big spike in the murder rate. But I'm sure they had nothing to do with each other. Even though guys like Mayor Adams say it is illegal guns that caused the spike in crime in New York. What would a Mayor who was a cop know, anyway? Anyhoo, guns aside, I'm sure voters will be pissed when Trump puts the facts out there. Murder rates are down 12.7 % in 2023, according to the most recent estimate I could find. In addition, that report says this: Awful, ain't it? Biden sure sucks. Can't wait for Trump to "revitalize" the US and bring back the riots and crime wave of 2020! Okay, okay. I lied. The statistics are real. I lied saying that Trump will put the facts out there. Of course he won't tell the truth. I'm counting on him to remind every suburban voter in America that he only lies when his lips are moving. And I did check other data sources. The Council on Criminal Justice is the next most recent, since they published a mid-year 2023. They said the murder rate was down 9.7 % at that point. So it seems like all kinds of violent crime are down in 2023. And they are dropping even fast than inflation. How can Biden possibly survive? Worse, as inflation and crime rates fall, the stock market is soaring. The Dow has reached an all time high. WTF? Obviously, people can't wait for business genius Trump to "restore" the S & P to where it was in January 2021 - 25 % lower than it is today. If there is one thing Americans hate more than higher prices, it is higher personal net worth! Finally, I just don't think Trump can help himself. He will make 2024 a referendum on Trump. And, unless these trials are delayed, it will also be a referendum on Trump's criminal behavior. 52 % of Americans think Trump should have been charged with crimes related to Jan. 6th. Only 32 % think he should not have been. Help me with the math, folks. 52 % is a majority, right? So please, @EmmetK. Enjoy the moment. Feed Trump's ego, and encourage him to rant as much as he can. But, as a pal, I'll remind you that it's never smart to count your indictments before they are hatched. By the way, I am curious. If Trump does win and returns us to the polices of his first Presidency, how many impeachments does that mean? 😵 And will they involve trying to slit Ukraine's throat, and steal another election - like in the original version?

So my Christmas wish from Santa is an immigration and aid funding package for Ukraine. Here's a few facts that matter: 70 % of Americans want Biden to issue new, stricter policies to reduce the flow of people coming across the border. 55 % of Democrats want Biden to do this, along with overwhelming majorities of Independents and Republicans. In the same poll, Americans are split almost right down the middle on aid for both Israel and Ukraine. Independents oppose either package by exactly 47/53. But a solid majority, 65 %, oppose any aid package without additional border security funding. Did I mention 2024 is an election year? Did I mention Biden's approval ratings suck? I was hoping for a Republican House majority in 2022 for two reasons. One positive, one negative. The negative reason was that, like in 1994 and 2010, a House Republican shit show would give a Democratic President a foil to run against. Worked in 1996 and 2012. Back then it was government shutdowns. Now they can't even elect a Speaker. So the Republicans have surpassed my negative expectations. The positive reason was they would force Biden to compromise. Or, depending on what you believe, it would give Biden political cover to compromise. The House Republican shit show has been so effective that they haven't really gotten to the point of actually legislating. But it is not too late. And I think Biden needs both the negative - dysfunctional Republicans and an indicted Trump - and the positive - his ability to compromise and get stuff done. So, to me, this is a complete political no brainer. And it is an excellent example of Ruy Teixeira's endless rant about how progressive Democrats are deeply committed to making the perfect the enemy of the good. If progressives want to be humane, how does electing Trump help immigrants at the border? How does electing Trump help Palestinians? Mostly Trump 2.0 is all about how they are infecting our blood, or being vermin, or something else like that. Ben Shapiro just made a similar observation in an op/ed. But he went negative/negative rather than positive/negative. He said one reason Trump can definitely beat Biden is people have negative views of Biden. Especially relating to inflation and the economy. But he added that one other thing helping Trump is that right now Trump is mostly out of sight. Most of the news is about someone with the last name Biden. So Trump is not reminding people of what they don't like about him. That will change when the primaries and court trials really get going. Shapiro, a Trump fan boy, wonders out loud whether Trump can survive the number Trump is about to do on himself. I agree. If it is true that Trump wins when he shuts up and let's Biden talk, it is also true that Biden wins when Trump dominates the debate. So I think Biden and Democrats need to shut up pass a bill on immigration and aid. And I hope Trump rants as much and as loud as he wants. And someone should teach him a little German. I know we're not supposed to compare everything to Hitler and Nazism. But all that stuff about "vermin" and "blood" sounds so much more menacing in the original. And I am curious whether Trump intentionally left out the part about the knife, because he doesn't speak German. Or maybe he thinks talking about slitting the throats of vermin (Juden, in the original context) would simply be going a bit too far. Hopefully the latter. Hopefully we never have to find out in 2025.

That's so Gay! If I admit publicly that I prefer Straight Ryan kissing Straight Emma, is someone going to accuse me of being homophobic? Or, worse, that I'm un-woke? 😯 For the record, just so they don't put a stamp in my Gay card, they could have cast Jonathon Bailey instead of Ryan Gosling. And he would have been just as cute, but more Gay.

An interesting compare and contrast to me is Fellow Travelers and Red, White, and Royal Blue. Both movies have great eye candy. One is getting mostly rave reviews, and will probably get lots of awards. The other is a fan favorite, but got trashed as superficial by many critics. It won't be taking home Oscars. Both have Gay directors and writers, which informs the content and tone - whether the actors are queer or not. If you put me on a desert island and said I can have only one of those movies to watch for the rest of my life, it is a no brainer. Red, White, and Royal Blue. I view it as a Gay fairy tale. To paraphrase Matthew Lopez, he wanted the film to reflect the past, but point toward the future. It makes me feel hopeful, and good. I usually like serious movies, and skip the Marvel stuff. But I am half way in to Fellow Travelers. And I am having to force myself to watch it. I get the point. The director said in a great interview that he wanted to show our community had all this shit thrown at us - the lavender scare, AIDS - and we survived. I take the series as a compliment, and testament to the resilience of LGBTQ folk. That said, it is just depressing to watch. Part of my own emotional reaction is, "Okay. Okay. Enough heavy gay stuff. Let's have the RWRB sequel, okay? With more nudity." I don't really mean that. It's a good thing that we can now have high budget and well made dramatic series by Gays, and for Gays, that lots of people who are not Gay like. But I'd rather live in a world where it is mostly all mixed up. And whether you are Gay or Black or a woman isn't the whole or even the main point - most of the time. Same for casting. I agree with you @Pete1111 that I'd rather have queer baiting restored to its original meaning: what Joe McCarthy did. And stop picking on Straight actors who do a good job playing queer roles. Since I started this thread, it is interesting that Taylor Zakhar Perez's "outing" has been much ado about nothing. I put outing in parentheses because whether he is even out, or has been outed, is a question. But he has basically lived by his character's principles. Which is that the choice to come out - or not - is personal. That said, what happened all over the internet after the movie came out suggests that fans are simply not going to tolerate leaving the slate completely blank. They have filled in the blanks with photos and videos that strongly suggest he is happily Gay, and happily married. I think it's a good look for TZP. You can talk about me all you want. But I don't have to confirm or deny anything you say. Kind of like the McCarthy hearings. But a lot better. 😉

May I make a suggestion? If we are being honest. Remain the thread to say this: "I'm a hypocrite who loves my Russian butcher and hates Israeli butchers." The issue with you, in each and every post, is that you defend how Putin butchers women and children, and attack Israel for doing the same. I think Putin and Netanyahu are both butchers. You want to defend one butcher - your own - and condemn another. That is the definition of "hypocrite." Putin is a butcher and sadist. It's all over the news. UN adds Russia to list of shame for killing children in Ukraine Russian soldiers accused of killing family of nine in Ukraine Deliberate murders of Ukrainian children by Russian soldiers reveal culture of impunity We killed Ukrainian children, ex-Wagner soldiers say in apparent confession “I killed children with [my own] hands,” Azmat Uldarov said in the video UN puts Russian forces on blacklist for killing children in Ukraine Are you actually proud that your country is run by a butcher and sadist who has brought global shame on Russia? You seem to be saying that it doesn't matter that Hamas attacked Israel and slaughtered over 1,000 innocent people. All that matters to you is that the IDF slaughters Palestinian children. You seem to be saying that it doesn't matter that Putin attacked Ukraine and is intentionally killing innocent women and children. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. And hundreds of thousands of dead Russians - thanks to your leader, who attacked a country unprovoked. Your abhorrence of subhuman behavior, cruelty, butchering, sadism, and evil is very selective, @Moses. This will end very badly for Russia. You don't want to admit it. But your country is now the weak economy that sanctions butchering, kills women and children, and tries to stamp out countries that want democracy and freedom. Its not going to end well for you. IMF lowers Russia 2024 GDP growth forecast to 1.1% The reason this will end badly for Russia is not the United States, or the West. Yes, the US and the West will do everything it can to weaken your butcher and sadist. We have already. The real reason you are fucked is China. Xi Whiz is playing your butcher, just like your butcher played his chef and butcher in Ukraine. You can't see the pattern, can you? It always ends badly for butchers. Xi Whiz will play your sadist Putin, maybe for years depending on how this goes. But the fundamental interest of both the US and China is peace and stability and global order. When your sadist and butcher messes that up enough, Xi Whiz or whoever is running China will turn on him. Did you notice how Biden and Xi were walking hand in hand in California, with Putin nowhere in sight? Putin may prosper by butchering and chaos. But China and the US and the rest of the world don't. Like the US in Iraq, Russia is fighting a war it can't win and will lose. What we don't know is how long it will take, how fucked the Russian economy will be when its over, and how many innocent women and children Putin will butcher in the meantime.

What butcher Putin and butcher Netanyahu are doing is equally sadistic and horrific. It makes no sense to say Bibi is 63.7 % sadistic, and Vlad is 71.1 % sadistic. They are both sadistic butchers. The world would be a better place if they both died yesterday. The children of Gaza Russian soldiers deliberately kill Ukrainian kids, new film says Terror against civilians is part of Russian military strategy, experts say. There is one difference between Israel and Russia, and Bibi and Vlad. What is happening right now in Gaza is a direct result of Hamas, an organization of butchers and sadists, attacking Israel. What is happening in Ukraine right now is a direct result of Vlad, a butcher and sadist, attacking Ukraine. That does not rationalize the IDF killing thousands of Palestinian children. But what is Vlad's excuse? Other than that he is a butcher and sadist? Of course you want to believe that all sadistic Vlad wants is dialogue, and all US Presidents want is war. That just confirms, once again, that you are a hypocrite who unquestionably backs a butcher and sadist who turns Ukrainians, and hundreds of thousands of Russians, into fertilizer. Because he is a butcher who doesn't give a shit. If you want to talk about US hypocrisy, that's fine. I see my country as 1 for 4 on being hypocrites relating to major conflicts. I'm counting Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel. The 1 for 4 is Iraq, where we did establish a well deserved reputation as hypocrites. Of course in the latter two conflicts the US in not directly engaged. But we have clearly taken sides, which is why so many Palestinians are pissed at Biden. In Afghanistan, the US was attacked. Just like Israel was. So we did NOT initiate that conflict, or most other ones. You always want to have it both ways. Because you stand for nothing, and have no standards. On the one hand, you patted the USSR on the back for getting out of Afghanistan after 2 years, whereas the US stayed for 20. On the other hand, you want to push the idea that the US always quickly cuts and runs. Which one is it? I give Biden credit. He tried hard to convince Obama to cut and run from Afghanistan in 2009, and just focus on counterterrorism. Had Obama NOT done the surge the US military wanted, most of the US soldiers and Afghan civilian casualties could have been prevented. Once Biden was POTUS, after 20 years of stalemate and corruption, he cut and ran. I think it was about time. But, again, we did not start that war. And we did not wantonly slaughter women and children. The small number of US soldiers that did kill civilians just because they could were punished. With Ukraine and Israel, we did not start the conflict. Your murderous butcher started the Ukraine conflict. Hamas started the conflict in Gaza now by butchering over 1000 innocent Jews. Don't blame any of that on the US, you hypocrite. Blame that on your very own sadistic butcher. The 1 in 4 where America fucked up horrifically is Iraq. At least I can say I was rabidly against it, as were a significant minority of Americans. One way that W. and Cheney were like Vlad is all the lies, lies, lies to defend an indefensible war. So that is on the US. No doubt about it. This is a theory rather than a fact, but I see a direct line from W. to Trump. W. was a cowboy who got the US into a war we could not win and never should have started. Fast forward 20 years and we have Trump, essentially arguing that Ukraine, and democracy, are not worth fighting for. It is an understandable but wrong reaction that is very scary. The verdict is out on how that goes. But I'm sure your butcher and sadist would love to see Trump, The Sequel. Trump, like Vlad, stands for nothing but power. Which is why they admire each other, and their capacity for lies and cruelty. Here's why you, Vlad, and Russia are fucked, @Moses . Afghanistan was a war the US fought after being attacked. In Iraq we started it. In both cases, it did not go well for either side. And, as you acknowledged, the US is the greatest military power in the world. So how does this suggest Vlad and Russia will do in an endless war in Ukraine? How will Russia and Vlad escape the fate of the US and W.? It will be far worse for Russia than the US, I think. Russia is a weaker military power, with an economy the size of one US state. California alone, and its growth and innovation, leaves your butcher in the dust. I think you are in denial about lots of things. Especially about how badly this will end for Russia. Just follow your own logic. The Ukrainians hate Russians now. They want Putin to burn in hell. They will do everything they can to fight back forever. And I hope Biden wins, and we will be backing Ukraine for as long as it takes. You lose, hypocrite. You lose. Sorry.

Which explains your main problem as a debater. You have no credibility. You are a hypocrite. Much like the butcher and sadist you defend. Vlad recently said it would be nice to have a US President who is more into "dialogue." I laughed. Biden is getting lots of shit for wanting "dialogue" with Israel about how NOT to blow the shit out of as many Palestinian women and children as possible as they go after Hamas terrorists who rape women and burn children alive. Putin, a true sadist and butcher, does not have this problem. In Ukraine, there is endless rape and murder of women and children. Vlad has no problem with it. Rape and kill. Rape and kill. Rape and kill. Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine There is no end to the sadism and butchery. Bombing a school where hundreds of women and children were sheltering. Bombing a children's hospital and maternity ward. Ugh! Vlad is a butcher and a sadist. And you are a hypocrite for being perfectly fine with Vlad's mass murder, sadism, and butchering. Even as you hold other nations to a higher standard. Or, to flip that around, at least you are being honest about how Murderous Vlad has no standards and no decency. And his people can't or won't hold him accountable. I mean, I get it. Russians don't want Vlad to turn them into fertilizer for Ukrainian cows to shit on.

Here's the World Bank data you are using: GDP per capita (current US$) - Russian Federation You can toggle on lots of charts that measure Russian GDP in different ways. You are correct that the picture looks very different if you compare $US to PPP. That is true of most countries, including China. The fact still remains that Russia sucks to live in compared to most Western countries, when you compare GDP. Sucks to be Russia, huh? It is certainly true that Ukraine has a lower GDP than Russia. So by annexing poor areas of Ukraine, Vlad made Russia poorer. In addition to all the butchering of women and children. Nobody ever argued that butchers and sadists like Vlad are actually smart, did they? Since you like international data, here is the World Bank, then the IMF (those two charts are current) and then a dated (2014) comparison to the US and the world. The picture is the same no matter what data source you use. Here's the thing about Murderous Vlad. On the one hand, he was a sadistic butcher right out of the gate. He slaughtered women and children at will in Chechnya to gain power and show he was a sadistic murdering bad ass. But in his first decade the Russian economy definitely grew under Putin. That is when he aspired to be more like the West, rather than the authoritarian and sadistic leader of a big shitty gas station. I included that last chart because it shows that in his first decade Putin brought Russia back to about where it was before the breakup of the USSR. I get it. The 1990's sucked in Russia. I get why even a sadistic authoritarian butcher was better than the 90's. That's exactly why it really sucks to be Russia. The 90's in the US and the West were great. Since about 2008, Russia has not done so well. Its standard of living has always been way below the West. And the gap is growing. It does have oil, and not much else. Thank God that North Korea and Iran, also two more pathetic economies with murderous leaders, are helping Vlad. Losers and butchers stick together, I guess. But, hey, who cares? Putin is probably one of the richest men in the world. In addition to being a sadist and a butcher. So why would he give a shit? He just likes power. And butchering women and children. It is who Vlad is. It is what Vlad does.

Yes. That explains why Trump was elected. ☹️ There is clearly an authoritarian trend in the world. The US is hardly immune from it. Some would argue the US is leading it. There was just a great interview of Fiona Hill in Politico where she talks about what is at stake in Ukraine. And the wave of anti-US sentiment all over the world. I suspect some of that has to do with the fact that we urged Ukraine to take on Putin. And by "take on Putin" I really mean fight back, instead of submit or try to walk a very thin tightrope of neutrality. And now many Americans are suddenly weak in the knees. And since I am talking among friends, I should note that W. going after Iraq, just because he could, helped to open Pandora's box. That said, Putin didn't really learn the lesson of Iraq. Or Afghanistan. People like to own their country. If Putin wants to understand the long term consequences of what he has done, he need only look to those two countries. Afghanistan beat both the USSR and the US in the long term. Putin doesn't stand a chance. The nice thing about @Moses is he reminds us what is at stake. And why sticking to our principles is important sometimes.

Poor Vlad. I'm not a psychologist. But maybe he butchers women because he can't get it up. Meanwhile, Xi Whiz is playing poor Vlad like the pathetic old sadist he is. One leads a growing economy that will compete with the US. The other invades and butchers because he can't get his economy to rise. Or anything else.

Thank you. I am glad you have figured out that Russia's occupation of Ukraine is bad. Can you now convince your butcher/sadist leader of that? In terms of a double standard - yes, you do have a double standard, as @Marc in Calif has noted. Why are you a hypocrite that supports a butcher/sadist? I despise both Netanyahu and Putin. They both killed peace. Netanyahu killed peace in Israel, and Putin killed peace in Ukraine. That said, as a butcher Netanyahu does not measure up to Putin. Putin has killed maybe 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers, and turned hundreds of thousands of his own people into fertilizer. Just because he is a butcher, and he can. So I can be against both butchers. And I am. Why aren't you? Why do you support a butcher and sadist who engages in mass slaughter, while going after Israel? The double standard is yours, @Moses. Go ahead and call out Israel all you want. But the way Putin butchers soldiers, women, and children is even worse. Putin has turned Russia into a gas station and butcher shop. Other than that, your economy sucks. Xi Whiz is playing your butcher leader to be his strong man and sadist. But don't be surprised down the line when Xi Whiz finds it convenient to abandon your butcher and sadist. Even Xi Whiz, let alone Putin, can't change the fact that the US came out of COVID the strongest economy in the world. Notice how the Dow just broke records, while your economy is a dumpster fire? And everyone smart who can is leaving Russia, since they don't want to be Russian fertilizer. You might want to think about your double standard. It is not working well for you, or Russia.

Silly @Moses. Like Murderous Vlad, you are not much into facts. Here's what the report you cited said, I assume those are confirmed deaths. Here's the thing. When Murderous Vlad drops big bombs on Ukrainians kids and they end up being gobs of rotting flesh, it is harder to identify them. Could that be why Ukrainians now hate Russians and want Murderous Vlad to burn in hell forever? In terms of 25,000 in Mariupol, here is where I got the number from: This Is the World If Ukraine Loses Great essay written by a Ukrainian. He is right. If Murderous Vlad is allowed to win, middle class America is fucked. We'll have a murderous authoritarian gaining in stature. And Ukrainians will be even more fucked. Murderous Vlad will just go on killing women and children. It is who he is. It is what he does. This is why Biden and McConnell and Schumer are staying late and working hard. Republicans do want Murderous Vlad to win. Democrats do not want Murderous Vlad to win. My quote of the month goes to Senator Michael Bennett:

I wish. My nephew and I exchange long and boring emails that would bore most people here to tears. This week they have been about China, small modular nuclear reactors, whether China is smarter because Xi Whiz can just push really expensive reactors through, or whether the US is smarter because we figured out small nuclear reactors are, once again, NOT too cheap to meter. It's more fun than posting here, because I am not told I am boring and verbose. My nephew is boring and verbose, too. And as pen pals we actually learn shit from each other. Oh, and we email lots and lots about stocks. Lots of charts and graphs. Check out SOXL. He's up something like quadruple since he bought it last Fall. I'm up about 50 % just this month. So we are figuring out how to make money on stocks. It's not as fun as sex tourism. But it's legal. I can't make money being verbose and boring here. Meanwhile, while I'm being verbose and boring, Murderous Vlad is doing his thing. Killing women and children. And killing women and children. And killing women and children. It is who Murderous Vlad is. It is what Murderous Vlad does. Don't you ever feel ashamed of all the killing of women and children, @Moses?

Silly boy. That's not a question. That's denial. Russia: Thirteen Murders, No Justice I have a question. Who murdered Igor Domnikov? Surely not Murderous Vlad, right? I have another question. Who murdered Sergey Novikov? Murderous Vlad wouldn't do it, would he? I have another question. Who murdered Iskandar Khatloni? Not Murderous Vlad. He's a sweetheart. I have another question. Who murdered Sergey Ivanov? I'm sure Murderous Vlad didn't do it. I have another question. Who murdered Adam Tepsurgayev? Murderous Vlad loves journalists as much as he loves killing children in Chechnya. I have another question. Who murdered Eduard Markevich? Not my honey Murderous Vlad! I have another question. Who murdered Natalya Skryl? Oh, come on. Murderous Vlad has killed way more innocent Ukrainian woman. Who cares, really? I have another question. Who murdered Valery Ivanov? Murderous Vlad wouldn't shoot a Russian in the head 8 times. He needs those bullets to kill Ukrainians. I have another question. Who murdered Aleksei Sidorov? Could be Murderous Vlad. Killing with an ice pick saves bullets for the heads of Ukrainian soldiers. I have another question. Who murdered Dmitry Shvets? Murderous Vlad? Nah! He's a dream come true. For butchers. I have another question. Who murdered Paul Klebnikov? Murderous Vlad wouldn't do it. It was probably Vlad's kleptocrat friends who didn't like being exposed. I have another question. Who murdered Magomedzagid Varisov? Murderous Vlad sure is a nightmare for journalists, isn't he? Last question. Who murdered Anna Politkovskaya? Murderous Vlad? Like I give a shit! Let's face facts. Murderous Vlad wiped out about 25,000 Ukrainians in Mariupol alone. Many of them women and children. The 50 bullets in the head or chest of the journalists that opposed Murderous Vlad in his early days ain't shit. And Murderous Vlad will do the same to lots more towns and cities in Ukraine, and lots more women and children if he needs to. It is who Murderous Vlad is. It is what Murderous Vlad does. Again, I despise Netayahu. But he is a saint compared to Murderous Vlad. The number of Palestinian children Netanyahu has killed in his reign of terror is like one week's work for the sadist and butcher who runs your country, @Moses.

There's some other relevant comparisons. The IDF is clearly in a position to say this. If you attack us, we will smear the streets with the blood of your dead. And they are doing it. Death here, death there, death everywhere. We all agree it's sad. Add lots of dead journalists, which is the point @Moses wants to make. He's correct. It's a fact. Israel is in a position to retaliate, defend, or whatever you want to call it. And they are doing it. Russia is clearly in a position to say this. We can attack you, Ukraine. And we will smear the streets with the blood of your dead. Dead soldiers, dead citizens, dead journalists. Death, death, death. Russia will bring you death. Putin will bring you death. You may hate us for eternity, and hope Putin burns in hell. But guess what? We could fucking care less. We can and will kill 500,000 of your soldiers. We don't care. Russia and Putin bring you death and misery. It's just that simple. Is there any question why Ukrainians hate Russians, and why Israel is pretty much united that Hamas sucks? That doesn't mean Putin and Hamas will just go away. Any successful plan has to start with the reality that Putin and Hamas can't simply be wiped out, unless we maybe want to blow up the whole planet. But they ARE the problem. Putin and Hamas have this in common. They like death. They want to kill. They are sadistic butchers. It is who they are. It is what they do. It is how they get and keep power. All you have to do is read where people are dying, including journalists. You are correct, @Moses. Gaza and Ukraine are bloodbaths. Why? Because sadistic butchers like Hamas and Putin made it that way. I despise Netanyahu and I think the IDF is going way too far. I think Putin calculated correctly that he could at the very least weaken Ukraine and create a stalemate. But none of that changes the fact that Hamas and Putin started the death. Certain facts are plain and simple. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Putin is a sadistic butcher. Do you agree, @Moses? If you want to understand why we have so many dead journalists, look to the butchers and sadists and terrorists who started it first. In my country, I could and did say George W. Bush sucks and this whole idea of attacking Iraq is insane. Granted, we did it anyway. I won't defend it, and I am not proud of it. Now most Americans and most of the world agree with me. My college mentor was a liberal Jewish professor who somehow ended up being a US Senator who was the only Democrat running for re-election in 2002 to oppose the Iraq War. There are conspiracy theorists who actually believe that got him killed in a small plane crash. I don't believe that. Here's my point. I can say my leader sucks and is wrong. Wellstone could vote against that war, and say it was a horrible mistake. In Russia, if you say these things, or oppose Putin, you are sent to the front. If you oppose the war, you become fertilizer or dog food in Ukraine. I'm not sure if you agree with Putin. Or if you just don't want to be sent to the front. Of course, I don't think Putin does that to journalists who disagree with him. He just jails them, or kills them. We settled that a long time ago. The murder that killed free media in Russia. Why aren't you ashamed of living in a failing country run by a sadistic butcher, @Moses? You should be. By the way, did you notice that Xi, not Putin, went to San Francisco and was given accolades by Apple? Have you noticed how China, not Russia, is having all-of-government meetings, starting with Biden and Xi, to figure out how to put out these fires, rather than starting them? Have you noticed that the Chinese economy came out of COVID a mess, and the US came out of COVID with the strongest economy in the world? What I am trying to say politely, @Moses, is that Xi is playing your sadistic butcher of a leader, just like your sadistic butcher of a leader played his sadistic butcher of a chef, who is now dead. Boo hoo! You get my point, right? None of this changes the fact that Russia is a failing economy that engineers who have the skills to work for Apple are fleeing in droves. Because they don't want to end up being a journalist in Russia. Or fertilizer in Ukraine.

I of course agree. Speaking of my nephews, the Sandersesque one asked me what I thought of the Republican House shit show. Before he even gave me a chance to answer, he kind of scripted my answer by suggesting I must be feeling Schadenfreude (Sorry, I don't speak Russian. Is German okay?) I surprised him by saying I was hoping the Republicans would take the House in 2022, for two reasons. First, like with Clinton in 1994 and Obama in 2010, I figured it would give Biden a foil to look more sane against when he ran for a second term. On that I have not been disappointed. The whacko wing of the GOP hit the ball into the Santosphere. Second, I figured it would give Biden a path to moderation and compromise. Like Clinton in 1994, for sure. (Remember, that's the last time we had a budget surplus?). That "meet in the middle" re-election concept didn't work so well with Obama in 2010. And we could debate whether it was because of Obama, or Boehner, or what Boehner called "the whackadoodles". (Spoiler alert: Team MTG is even more whackadoodle than what Boehner had to deal with. At least the Senate got immigration reform passed in 2014. It was the House Freedom Caucus that killed it.) It's interesting that Biden actually got Republicans to compromise when Democrats ran the House, and the moderate D's and R's (yes, there are a few) could actually meet in the middle on infrastructure, chips, and gun control. The idea that House Republicans will compromise with Democrats is obviously hopeless. Since House Republicans can't even compromise with Republicans. So it all suggests Biden won't have compromises to run on for 2013 and 2014. Although one can always hope, probably illogically, that immigration reform may pass. But if Biden doesn't have compromise, he will at least have the House shit show to point his finger at. So I'll just repeat that the hope is that there is no recession. And Biden will win as the lesser, albeit older, of evils. AB Stoddard, who does a good job of speaking in the voice of center/right, just wrote a scary piece arguing that voters are now used to all the horrors of Trump. So nothing he does or says really matters anymore. If she's right, and people want to hope for a return to a pre-inflation Trump economy, he may well be the 47th POTUS. I'm hoping she's wrong. And when people in the middle really focus on Trump, his crimes, and how he wants to repeal Obamacare again, it will also seem like just one more act in the Republican shit show. Mostly, I'm hoping inflation stays down, interest rates follow inflation down, and we have no recession. It's probably true that people just don't care much about whether Trump is criminal, or Biden is old. They probably care more about inflation and interest rates.